1. Related Applications
This application is related to my concurrently filed applications entitled "Umbrella Type Collapsible Shelter", "Disengaging Connector for Attaching Fabric to a Tubular Support Member", and "Ground Engaging Foot Member", Ser. Nos. 950,028; 950,257; and 950,258, respectively. The entire contents of such concurrently filed applications are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Field
The invention pertains generally to collapsible shelters of the umbrella-tent type. In particular, the invention relates to a portable shelter, including a foldable frame with the shelter cover, i.e., canopy, affixed thereto, which is adapted for quick, easy erection from its folded, compact form and vice-versa.
3. State of the Art
In recent years, backpacking has become very popular, and portable, single unit tents, which have the frame and canopy incorporated into one unit and can be folded into a compact, lightweight package, have been provided to take the place of the older, more cumbersome tents in which a frame and canopy are separable from each other. A sturdy, lightweight, foldable, quickly erectable and collapsible shelter of the umbrella type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,054, issued to Paul J. Watts on Feb. 26, 1974. In accordance with the disclosure of that patent, a frame and canopy are provided in a single unit wherein the material of the canopy is held loose on the frame when the shelter is in a collapsed position and taut on the frame when the shelter is in an erected position. In addition, the central pole of conventional umbrella-type tents was eliminated, with the shelter retaining all the structural stability of such umbrella tents having a central pole.
The frame of the shelter disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,054 includes a vertical erecting rod located at the apex of the frame. The erecting rod is adapted to slide up and down through a central hub which forms the apex of the frame. A plurality of flexible, segmented support members are pivotally attached to the central hub, and an equal number of rib members are pivotally attached at mutually respective ends to the support members. The other ends of the rib members are pivotally attached to a second hub which is mounted on the erecting rod below the central hub, so that when the second hub is moved into proximity of the central hub, the support members assume a position extending outwardly and downwardly from the central hub with the cover or canopy tautly affixed thereto, and the rib members extend substantially radially outward from the second hub. As taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,054, the support members and rib members are pivotally attached to the respective hubs in a substantially permament manner requiring substantial assembly cost. In addition, individual support members or rib members cannot be replaced, in case of breakage or other failure of such a member, without disengagement of all the members attached to the respective hub. Thus, replacement of a single support member or rib member becomes time consuming and costly.